S$988 16GB iPhone 5S Costs Apple About S$250 To Make

According to a teardown report by IHS that will be available tomorrow, but has been shared with AllThingsD today, Apple spends about US$191 on components to build a 16GB iPhone 5S and US$8 on manufacturing the device for a total of US$199 (S$250). This makes it roughly the same as last year's iPhone 5, which IHS estimates cost Apple about US$205.

The report states that the most expensive components are those associated with the display, amounting to a combined US$41.

As for the iPhone 5C, IHS estimates that the cost of components costs about US$173 to $183, with US$7 for assembly for a total of US$180 to 190.

The differences between them are surprisingly few, said IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler, who oversaw the teardown work:

“I would say that they’re almost the same phone, except that the 5s has the fingerprint sensor, the A7 processor and some newer memory chips that consume less power. Beyond that, they’re basically the same.”